Nut shelling apparatus of the pneumatic type



June 20, 1950 a. B. LENHART ETAL NUT SHELLING APPARATUS OF THE PNEUMATICTYPE Filed Jan. 27, 1947 Patented June 20, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT.orncc NUT SHELLING APPARATUS'OF THE PNEUMATIC TYPE Bernard B. Lcnhart,Mill Valley, and Marshall w. McGrath, San Francisco, Calif.

Application January 27, 1947, Serial No. 724,494

3 Claims. (01. 1468) 1 This invention relates to a nut shellingapparatus, and more particularly to a device adapted to fracture theshells of nuts asthe nuts are passed therethrough. .7

.This application is a continuationinpart of our co-pendingapplicationentitled Nut Shelling Apparatus of the Pneumatic Type, SerialNumber 703,029, filed October 12, 1946, now abandoned, wherein there isdescribed and claimed an apparatus for shelling nuts comprising a tubeand target in spaced alignment, and a plurality of ports through thewall of the tube adapted to allow for the passage of pressurized air andthe direction of said air toward the mouth of the tube adjacent thetarget. Into the opposite or high pressure end of the tube, there ispassed a succession of nuts which are driven by the pressuredifferential against the target with shell fracturing force. Thestructure embodying the instant invention comprises the tube structureabove-described, but the target is supplanted by animproved shellfracturing element comprising a sleeve attachable to the mouth of thetube in concentric relation therewith, said sleeve having'a plurality ofinwardly and radially extending spring urged members, each separatelyextensible and adjustably spring loaded, adapted to provide for apredetermined degree of fracture of the shells of variously sized nutsas the nuts are propelled through the collar and forced past theconverging ends of the spring loaded members.

Among the objects of the invention, therefore, are the following: Toprovide an improved and more efiicient nut shelling element forassociation with means for propelling nuts therethrough; to provide anut shelling element whereby the effective shell fracturing force isproportional to the kinetic energy of movement of the nuts through theelement; and to provide a nut shelling element which is adjustable tothe size and shape of the species of nut to be processed and alsoadjustable to impart a variable shell breaking force to the nuts as theyare passed therethrough.

Other objects and avantages of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing description taken in conjunction with the drawing forming partof this specification, and in which:

Figure 1 is a view in section of a nut shelling apparatus embodying theimproved nut shelling element of the invention; and

Figure 2 is a view in section taken along lines 2-2 of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawing for more specific details of the invention, Iis a tubehaving an inlet I2, an outlet I 4, and a plurality of passages.l6 angularly inclined toward the outlet I 4. A man-v ifold i8 is securedto the tube H1 in overlying relation to the passages l6, and a conduit20 connects said manifold with a source of pressurized air, not shown.The outlet end of the tube It! abuts a shoulder 22 of an extension tubeor sleeve. 24, said sleeve being secured to the tube by a set screw 26.A plurality of pipe nipples 28, having upper and lower externallythreaded portions 30 and 32 spaced apart by a wrench gripping surface,such as an hexagonal head 34, are threaded through the sleeve 24 inradially spaced relation. Each of the nipples 28 has an inwardly crimpedend 36 to retain therein a steel ball 38 of slightly less diameter thanthe inner diameter of the nipple, said balls being yieldingly urgedagainst the crimped ends of the nipples by springs 40 abutting caps 42adjustably threaded on the upper portions 30 of the nipples.

When pressurized air is passed into the manifold I8 and through thepassages It to issue from the sleeve 24, a pressure differential is setup between the inlet l2 of the tube l0 and the outlet 14 of the tube,said pressure difierential being effective toimpel a nut, placed withinthe inlet l2 of the tube, through the tube to strike the balls 38 whichare subtended by the inner diameter of the tube Ill. The balls 38 areurged inwardly of the nipples 28 by the impact of the nut to allow thepassage of the nut through the sleeve 24, but said impact is effectiveto fracture the shell of the nut to a degree proportional to thevelocity of the nut and the degree of compression of the springs anacting in opposition to the inward movement of the balls with respect tothe nipples 28. The distance between the ends of oppositely disposednipples 28 is maintained greater than the inside diameter of the tubeIll to prevent the nuts from striking the nipples as they are passedthrough the sleeve 24.

Species of nuts of varied size and shell strength may be processed toobtain optimum shell fracturing by extending the nipples 2B inwardly ofsleeve 24 by means of a wrench applied to the hexagonal surface 34 orretracting the nipples outwardly in a similar manner to accommodate thespace described by the ends of the balls 38 to nuts of varied size, andthe fracturing of the shells may be controlled by a variation of thepressure of the air admitted to manifold I 8 to regulate the velocity ofthe nuts in passing through the tube I0, and by adjusting the caps 42 tocontrol the degree of compression of springs 40 and, hence, the reactiveor shell breaking effect of the balls 38.

The tube ID in Figure 1 is adapted to have efilciently propelledtherethrough nuts of a size comparable to the inner diameter of thetube. It is intended that a tube liner or shim be inserted and securedin tube to adapt the tube for the efficient passing therethrough of nutsof smaller size, said liners being of variable wall thickness so thatthe inner diameter of a. particular liner is comparable to the size of anut of particular species. The nipples 2B are then adjusted so that theinner diameter of the liner subtendsthe ends of the balls 38, as inFigure 1.

It is, of course, obvious that the number ofballs 38 used in the shellfracturing process ma belessened to a, desired number of retracting theremaining nipples so that the balls carried thereby are not in the pathof the nuts passing through the sleeve 24. the'nipples 28 may beindividually adjusted so that the balls 38 form an asymmetrical patternto thus achieve a variegated shell fracturing.

A further consideration to be noted is the fact that the springs 40 maybe replaced by equivalent resilient means, such as a rubber cushion,pressurized air, or the like, and, also, that any suitable mechanism maybe provided to achieve a simultaneous adjustment of all the nipples 28to uniformly vary :in one operation the degree in which the nipplesextend Within the sleeve v2 4'.

'While'thepreferred embodiment-0f the invention has been shown anddescribed, the embodiment 'issubject to modification within-the spiritof the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

What we claimas' new and desire to secure -by Letters Patent is:

1. A nut shelling apparatus comprising tubular guide means for a nut,a-plurality of spring loaded roller members (extending radially withinthe bore of said tubular guide means, said members being movableyieldingly outwardl with respect to said guide means and beingindependently movable with respect to each other, and propelling meansadapted .to impart a relatively high velocity .toannut and .cause it totravel through said guide means, said moving nut being operable tostrike said roller members and force Also, it is to be pointed out thatsaid members out of the path of travel of said nut to allow movement ofthe nut therepast, and said members being adapted to travel on thesurface of said nut while said nut is moving between said members tofracture the shell of said nut.

2. The nut shelling apparatus set forth in claim vl, wherein there isprovided pneumatic propelling means, control means to vary thepropulsion efiect of said propelling means, control means to vary thebore positioning of said roller members, and control means to vary thespring-loading of said members, whereby through the desired setting ofsaid control means nuts of various sizes 'may be accommodated and thedegree of shell fracture may be varied.

.3. .A'nut shelling apparatus comprising a tube, meansassociatedtherewith for introducing compressed air into said tube for thepropelling of nuts along said tube, and a plurality of circumferentiallyspaced independently movable members separate from but associated withthe outlet end of the tube extending radially into the path of a nutpropelled by said air and yieldinglymovable outwardly of said path,under the shell-fracturing impact thereagainst of a propelled nut, toallow for continued movement of said nut past said members, the insidearea defined 'by the convergence of the spaced members being less thanthe inside diametral area of the tube.

BERNARD B. LENHART.

MARSHALL W. MCGRATH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 947;.932 Peckham Feb. '1, 19:101,046,290 Granville Dec. 3, 1:912 1,23,697 Foote July 24, 1-9172,131,290 Kochner et al. Sept. '27, 1-938 2,154,412 'Romberg et al. Apr.11, 1939 "2,212,213- 'Rothen'berger et a1. Aug. 20,1940 2234,15? JonesMar. 4, 1941 12381288 Jones Aug. 7, 1945 21386975 Pearce et a1 Oct. 16,1945

